City of Cincinnati set to give King Records project $205,000 in seed money

Cincinnati City Council is poised Wednesday to give $205,000 to the group working to bring the King Records studio building back to life.

Though the amount is less than the group originally sought, the leaders of the King Records Legacy Foundation told council's Budget and Finance committee Monday it's plenty to set them on the path to raise the $15 million to $20 million needed for the project.

Cincinnati’s King Records was an important record company in early country, R&B and rock music, and also released James Brown's first soul records. King Records closed in 1971. The plan is to turn the vacant studio building on Brewster Avenue in Evanston into a museum and event space.

The city money will be used to hire a full-time director and pay for marketing materials. Kent Butts, the son of Otis Williams, who recorded under the King label, is expected to be named director. The short-term goal is for the group to raise $2 million.

The group last fall asked for $410,000 from the city, but council members wanted to see progress before allocating that much money. The city owns the building, but the understanding has always been that the foundation would oversee the building's resurrection.

"We're approaching it one piece at a time," said Dan Bower, deputy director of the city's Department of Community and Economic Development, during the budget committee meeting. The current plan is meant to last for one year, with the group updating the city monthly and council again in a year.

Patti Collins, the wife of King Records artist Bootsy Collins and the director of the Bootsy Collins Foundation, told council members, "We are so thankful. We are going to do our very best. We have artists all over the world willing to help out."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: City of Cincinnati set to approve King Records seed money